The Pefect Life
by Stardust Angel2
Summary: Looks like Relena was kidnapped and Heero and Com. look for her but what if she planned it herself? A year later a weird agent is assigned with the G-gang but who is she? HYRP Ch 11 FINISHED Ch 12 up
1. The Beggining of it All

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
A.N. This starts with the not so original topic of an assassination attempt on Relena's life but don't be fooled it changes later on. This is my first fic so don't expect great things. This is a non-yaoi fic.  
  
The Perfect Life By Stardust  
  
  
  
Chapter one  
  
  
  
Relena turned around as she heard the reporter scrambling to get a photograph of her coming out of the latest ESUN meeting. She smiled for a few minutes before she got into her limo. It's getting easier and easier to fake them. They don't even notice it's a fake smile... I don't think anyone notices. Relena smiled again at her reflection in the window. It was a hollow smile. nothing but a mask.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
"Have any of you noticed something strange in Relena lately?" Noin asked. She had noted Relena's constant efforts to be isolated of anything and everyone, except her work. She looked around the room worried that she might be just a little paranoid and Relena was acting completely normal but a round of nods reassured her. She had called all of the G-boys, even Heero, and their counterparts with the hope that all of them would be able to help Relena.  
  
"Now that you say it she has not called me for a month. She used to call me every week." Worry was evident in all of the girls' faces as Hilde spoke.  
  
"You are right. She has not called me either." Dorothy was used to spending a lot of time with Relena, since the war ended they had become very close friends.  
  
"Yeah, she used to go to the orphanage every week with me when I would go and check on the kids. She has not gone for a month." Sally had also noticed that Relena's behavior had been changing for a few months now, but she had figured that it was normal. After all, she was only a teenage girl.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
"Miss Relena! You're home!" Liana, the daughter of one of Relena's maids had taken a special interest in Relena and in her friends, more specifically in Heero.  
  
"Hello, Liana." Liana would always wait for Relena and follow her around the palace, of course being very careful not to get in her way. It reminded Relena of her self following her dad when he got home from work.  
  
"Relena, your friends are here and Heero too. They have been talking in Mr. Milliardo's office almost since you went to work." Relena laughed at Liana's information. If you ever wanted to know where anyone in the palace was Liana could tell you. "They were talking about a mission and helping you. is there something wrong with you, Relena?" (A.N.: Is it just me or little kids talk a bit too much?)  
  
"No Liana." Liar, liar pants on fire. Relena's mind screamed. During the last few months she had been becoming more and more depressed. The things happening around her were not helping at all. The ESUN had been especially touchy and was splitting into groups making her job ever so harder. She was also helping Milliardo and Noin with their wedding preparations. To top it all of the ESUN had just decided to rebuild the gundams during the meeting that had just finished. Relena and four other ministers were the only ones to vote against the rebuilding. She had noted that she was so distracted with other stuff she wasn't observant of what was happening around her so she acted more in her emotions than what she normally did. She opted, after a brief discussion with herself, to act as if she knew nothing about them being there for a mission or any other purpose.  
  
"Shall we go and join them Liana. I know that you want to see Heero."  
  
Liana blushed and murmured, "Yes, can I stay with you?"  
  
"Of course you can." Relena would use Liana to control her anger and sadness. She could not break in front of a civilian and much less in front of a small child.  
  
When they were in front of the door to Milliardo's office Liana stood behind Relena and hugged Relena's leg like a little girl would do to her mother. Relena looked at her and smiled as she knocked in the door.  
  
"Come in," Milliardo said nearly shouting, "Relena, you are back from work early!"  
  
"Yes, I wanted to surprise you but it seems that you had your own surprise for me." Relena walked a few steps before stopping and looking around.  
  
"Hi 'Jousan! Long time no see." Duo, like always smiling and opening his arms motioning Relena to hug him, was the first to speak.  
  
"Yes, Duo, indeed it has been a long time." Relena said as Duo picked her up and started turning around making her laugh. Heero, who saw this from a corner of the room, was feeling something as he watch Duo do what he had always wanted to do. Jealousy?? Why would I be jealous? He was about to start a discussion with himself but was to busy noticing how each of the pilots greeted Relena. After Duo had put Relena back on the ground Quatre moved towards her.  
  
"Quatre!! You skipped a meeting!! You are such a naughty boy!!" Relena said in a motherly tone.  
  
"Sorry! But I am sure that my favorite Minister will tell me what it was all about." Quatre always used his charm to get what we wanted. He couldn't have as many sisters as he did without learning how to use it.  
  
"Ok I will tell you later. Now give me a hug I have not seen you in .two weeks." Relena said as she received a hug and a kiss in the cheek. At this Heero tightly closed his fists but no one seemed to notice except for a young American. Next was Trowa.  
  
"It has been a long time, Relena." Trowa said as he walked with his regular grace.  
  
"Far too long for me." Trowa gave Relena a quick hug and then backed away to let Wufei greet her.  
  
"Woman," Wufei expected an angry Relena but everyone was used to his personality and decided to ignore him. He gave her something that could not be described or called a hug, but it was better than his usual nod. Because of his actions everyone stared at him with wide eyes in disbelieve. Everyone but Relena that is.  
  
Relena and the other four pilots had actually grown pretty close after the war. Quatre was always there to help Relena get through the political meetings and to hear her every thought. Duo would always get her into a good mood and make her smile even after a chaotic day. Trowa and Wufei had taken their time to open up to her. Relena discovered that when she needed an advice Trowa was the one to turn to. Wufei would always help her bring her self-esteem up even though he would only do so when they were completely alone. Heero was the only one she had not completely befriended. Of course he would drop in every few months but he would hardly speak to her. And in those rare visits Liana had meet Heero and was captivated by his mysteriousness, just like Relena was.  
  
Heero was ready to greet Relena but he forgot something, no someone. The girls.  
  
"Relena! You have not called me for a month." One of them shouted as they all moved for a group hug.  
  
"The children at the orphanage ask for you every time I go." Sally had managed to pass through all of the girls and was holding Relena in her arms.  
  
"Sa.lly! Let. go. can't. breath." Relena managed to choke as she gasped for air.  
  
"Sorry 'Lena." Sally said as she let go of the young girl.  
  
"It's ok. Next time just let me breath and it will be just fine!" Relena said as all of them laughed.  
  
Well, she is not any different but who knows maybe she is just acting. Heero thought as he saw Relena laughing with the girls before she stopped and looked at him. Heero took that as his cue and neared Relena.  
  
"Relena." (A.N.: Has anyone noticed that that is the way they always start a conversation?)  
  
"Hello, Heero." Relena turned and saw that Liana was still standing in the doorframe and was staring at Heero. "Liana, come here." With this the girl came out of the shadows. Everyone in the room knew the six year old girl. She was like Relena's shadow. Where Relena was Liana was, too.  
  
"Hi, Heero." Liana was standing next to Relena and looking at the ground. Relena could not do anything but chuckle as she saw Liana blush. Before anyone had time to say anything a servant came to the door.  
  
"Miss Relena, I am terribly sorry to disrupt you but there is an emergency call in the line. It's the President. He said something about the earlier meeting."  
  
"I will go. Everyone excuse me please." Relena's face went from the Relena the people in the room knew to a Relena that was cold and insensitive. When Relena left the room, as it was predicted, Liana went after her.  
  
"See, that is exactly what I mean." Noin said with a sigh.  
  
"Yeah, I think we all noticed it, too." With this last remark the room fell in silence.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ok, that is it for the first chapter, tell me what you think. I know nothing happened as of now but it will get better, I promise. Please, read & review, so that I know if you people like how the story is turning. You can leave a review or you can e-mail me to the address in my profile. Thanks!!  
  
*Stardust* 


	2. The Dream

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
The Perfect Life  
  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter two  
  
"Relena what in the world are you doing? It's 3:30 A.M." Catherine was awakened a sound coming from the office next to her room.  
  
"Oh! Hi, Cathy. I am just working in some papers for a meeting tomorrow. I am sorry if I woke you up." Relena said looking at her friend before continuing her work.  
  
"Relena you have to get some sleep or would you like me to tell Zechs, Sally and the guys that you are working and have not gotten any sleep?" Cathy said more like a threat than a question. Relena knew what would happen if either one of those persons knew that she was still up. Zechs would start a rant and strap her to her bed; Sally would probably give her some drugs so that she would fall sleep, and the guys would probably take her to her room and watch her sleep all night long. "Come on. I will go with you to your bedroom and see that you get some sleep." Cathy pulled Relena out of her chair and pushed her out of the room.  
  
"Cathy! At least let me save the work that I did. I promise I will go to bed right after I do that." Relena begged Cathy. In reality Relena could not had stud up from her chair on her own, she was too tired.  
  
"All right, young missy. But I will wait for you and take you to bed." Cathy acted like a mother to all of them but especially to Trowa, Quatre and Relena, since they had such a close relationship with Trowa. It was 4:00 a.m. before Relena had saved and organized all of her work. Afterwards they went to Relena's room but neither one was ready for what they were about to see. When they entered Relena's room everything was pitch black and they could not see a thing but after they turned the lights on the only thing they could do was to scream in terror.  
  
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" The terrible scream was heard all over the house. The first ones to get there had been Zechs and Heero, much to Zechs's dislike, whose rooms where at the sides of Relena's rooms. In no time everyone else was in the hall trying to figure out what had just happened.  
  
"What is it Relena?" Zechs hugged his sister before he saw the sight in front of him. What ever it was it had scared both Cathy and Relena to death. He knew them both and knew that a simple thing would easily scare none of them. But he understood all of it as soon as he saw what was inside Relena's room.  
  
'Rena, Rena, Come out and play, I am waiting for you, and I will soon have you.' Was written with blood in the wall in front of the door, lines of blood where painted all over the room and in Relena's bed laid a red dove with a pool of blood underneath. Who ever had done this wanted everyone to see it. Zechs pulled Relena and Cathy out of the room and closed the door.  
  
"Relena, What happened?" Liana was still trying to catch her breath. As soon as she heard Relena's scream she went in a crazy sprint to where Relena was. But Relena did not answer her. Relena looked pale and deep in thought. She knew that this was going to happen sooner or later. The government was breaking apart and the only thing holding it together was her.  
  
"Nothing, Liana, I just had a really bad nightmare like the one you had the other day," Relena kneeled and hugged Liana, " Now go back and sleep, ok?"  
  
"Sure. But are you going to be ok? I want you to be fine." Liana said as she slowly kissed Relena in the cheek and walked back to her room. Everyone was surprised that Relena could sound so calm when she had just seen the little 'surprise' that someone had left in her room.  
  
"Oh, Quatre, by the way, we have a meeting at 10:00 am. I have to tell you what happened during the last meeting, and I think that all of you should know this." Relena started telling them about the last meeting. Nobody was paying to much attention to what she was saying. Everyone was thinking of how calm Relena seemed to be, even Cathy could not get over the shock. After all she does throw knifes at people and could easily kill them with a single wrong movement if she was not calm and careful. As soon as she said the words 'rebuilding Gundams' everyone turned their complete attention to her words.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
It had been a tedious day for Quatre and Relena, especially for her. The whole meeting the now divided government pointed fingers at each other and fought over where the Gundams should be kept and built. Of course every country wanted to build and keep the Gundams. And whenever they would not get to an agreement they all turned to Relena for an answer. Quatre had tried as much as he could to support her but his efforts were meaningless as the rest of the politicians found ways to ignite another disagreement. The setting sun at one side of the car as they drove home was the only nice thing they had seen in the whole day.  
  
"Relena!! You took longer than you were supposed to!!" Liana yelled from the door as Relena and Quatre got out of the car.  
  
"Yes, Liana." Relena was tiered and didn't really wanted to deal with anything or anyone right now. When they came into the living room where everyone was Duo asked the single question that would break Relena's control and stability.  
  
"How was the meeting?" That single question caused Relena to explode. Quatre wanted to shoot Duo in the head for asking such and stupid question. They were supposed to be back by 2:00 pm and it was 6:30 pm, at least that should had given him a clue.  
  
"It was a lousy meeting." Relena answered in an ice-cold voice. Everyone was surprised but supposed that the stress was speaking.  
  
"Oh, come on. It could not had been that bad!" Duo tried to lighten the mood but only succeeded in making it more stressful. Quatre was about to get up and cut Duo's throat but Relena started talking or rather shouting.  
  
"YES IT WAS THAT BAD!" Relena yelled in frustration. She could not hold it any longer, she felt herself collapsing and knew she had to get away from everyone. With that Relena left the room running blindly not knowing where to go. It seemed her feet had taken a mind of their own and where caring her against her will to some safe place. She found herself running up the stairs leading to her room. As she reached the top of the stairs she felt strong hands in her shoulders turning her around. Heero almost cringed at the sight that met him. Relena was shooting him the same glare he so frequently shot to everyone who annoyed him but that was not what scared him it was the hurt, sadness, hatred and desperation in Relena's eyes that for an instant seemed to be directed to him alone.  
  
"I think we all understand how stressful and taxing your job can be. Don't worry, nobody will blame you for what happened." Heero said in the most comforting tone he could muster. He thought that he had accomplished his mission when Relena smiled but, boy, was he wrong.  
  
"No, Heero you don't understand. This stupid smile I have plastered in my face is nothing but a mask. Can't you see that I hurt inside but I have to be strong for every one else who wants peace? That I must think of them before myself? It is because of this stupid mask that people see me as a symbol, a figure, a doll. not as a human with human needs and feelings!!" Relena yelled. Heero was speechless, but even if he had spoken, Relena would have interrupted him as she went on with her rant.  
  
"Everyone sees me as 'the Angel of Peace' or 'the Dove of Peace', no one sees me as Relena Darlan. and I am tired of that!!" Relena finally stopped her seething only to pass by an astonished Heero and slam her bedroom door. If Duo had been there, he would have been rolling in the floor with laughter. Heero's face was a mixture of anger, sadness and surprise. He had passed trough war emotionless, and yet a single girl could arise such quizzical emotions within him.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
"AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!" Relena growled as she took one of the many pillows that decorated her bed and started punching it. She was a pacifist, but since her life was constantly being threatened, she had learned self-defense, fencing, and some martial arts-mostly Milliardo's and Dorothy's teachings. "Why can't they see that I am not a delicate porcelain doll that is going to break with a single touch? But it will stop because they won't be able to protect me anymore." As she said this, she took a backpack full of cloths, her laptop and some money. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door. "I can't go right now. They'll catch me before I make it to the front door. I will go when they least expect it. I will bid my time and wait until the perfect moment comes." With this new reflection, she took her belongings and hid them away underneath her bed and asked who was knocking.  
  
"It's the girls, Lena" Hilde's muffled voice sounded through the wooden door.  
  
"Come in" Relena said as she dried her last tears and sat in her fluffy bed. Soon the door was opened and five woman bursted in to the once peaceful bedroom of the princess.  
  
"Lena, are you ok, hon?" Hilde asked as she took her seat next to Relena putting her arm around Relena's shoulders to comfort her. Relena smiled as all of them took their assigned posts. Whenever Relena or any other one of them felt depressed or had something to tell the others they always sat around the person. In this case they where all sited around Relena.  
  
"Yeah, the stress must be getting to my head and yesterday's surprise is not helping much." Relena said with an apologetic smile.  
  
"Don't worry darling after all what use is it to have six gundam pilots if not to protect you?" Noin stated and everyone laughed.  
  
"I will be alright guys, I just need to rest." Relena stifled a yawn and everyone got the message.  
  
"Night" Everyone said unanimously and left.  
  
I am really lucky; I have friends and family who really care for me. Then how come I don't feel happy?  
  
'You know why.' A little voice answered Relena's question  
  
No, I should be happy. What else can a girl dream for? Being a princess, having everything she wants, the people of the world hanging to her every word and deed, friends and family that would die for her. I have everything anyone ever wanted and yet I am not happy. What is wrong with me?  
  
'There is nothing wrong with you; you are perfectly fine. You are not happy because you don't want to be the queen of the world anymore. Because you want something more. Because you want to live a normal life. Some people in life search for what society calls normality and then there are others who search for anything but normality. You my darling tasted what normality is and it did not made you happy so now you are breaking the bonds to this life and trying to begin a new one.'  
  
Why should I give up this perfect life? I have everything.  
  
'Because, child, you don't want to have an assassination attempt on your life every time you walk out of the door. Because you don't want to carry the weight of the world in your shoulders anymore. Believe me, Rena, nobody can blame you for it, nobody. You are only a human being. You can only do so much for the world. You, my dear, have done more than enough.'  
  
Maybe you are right but. Who are you any ways?  
  
'I, my sweet child, am you mother.'  
  
Uh? To say the least Relena had been expecting it to be anyone but her mother  
  
'I am your mother, dear, your real mother.'  
  
But how come. I I I mean, how can you talk to me? How can I hear you?  
  
'I am always watching over you and I thought that you needed some help right now.'  
  
You never came all does other times.  
  
'I have always been by your and Milliardo's side. Besides you always managed all those other times, I just thought that you need some extra help on what's to come. I most go now but remember what I said about your life.'  
  
Wait, will you talk again with me  
  
'Maybe but remember I am always at your side, no matter what happens'  
  
With that said Relena fell into the most peaceful sleep she had had in months. Dreams of a smaller version of her playing with a beautiful woman with long curly honey blonde hair and dark blue eyes in a plain full of wild flowers filled her mind all night long.  
  
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Ok, that is it for this chapter, tell me what you think. Any suggestions or comments please e-mail them to: maru87678@hotmail.com 


	3. The Year that Changed it All

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
The Perfect Life  
  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter three  
  
It had been about two months since Relena had run away, and by this time she had traveled Europe and was now touring Asia. She had been using the alias "Nashada Wong." Her once honey blond hair was now black as a clear midnight sky, and her blue eyes used to reflected the torrents of the sea were changed to a rich brown the color of sweet honey... surely nobody could recognize her now. She was currently in Japan, and while there, only one thought entered her mind  
  
"Heero." His name escaped her lips in a soft unconscious whisper. She had been walking all day long and was now trying to find her way to her hotel, in which she was being unsuccessful, and found herself walking up a flight of stairs. Why she was still walking if she knew this was not the way to her hotel was something not even she could understand, but something was calling her to continue following the trail, which the stairs laid out for her. When she got to the top, she could see a small temple accompanying a shrine.  
  
"Wonder. What is the name of this temple?" Relena asked herself as she looked around in the darkness.  
  
"It's called Akita Temple," A voice said. A startled Relena nearly jumped at the sound of the voice. She thought she was alone.  
  
"Who are you?" Relena inquired as she tried to find where the voice had come from.  
  
"I am Atakayama Ko," An old man said as he stepped out of the temple, "And you are?"  
  
"Oh, I am sorry. My name is Nashada Wong." Relena said still a little startled.  
  
"May I ask what are you doing here at this time of the night? It can be dangerous, especially for a young woman." The old man said as he carefully moved towards Relena as not to alarm her any further.  
  
"I got lost and can not find my way back to my hotel." Relena answered, a revelation coming to her as she responded: this man was obviously the priest of the temple.  
  
"I see. Well, I cannot let you go into the street if you're lost. Why don't you stay here for the night and tomorrow morning you can go back to your hotel?" The old man signaled towards the temple as he spoke to her.  
  
"You are right. Thank you."  
  
Ko, the old man, showed her a small room, which had a small bed and a desk- unadorned yet cozy.  
  
"It is not much but it is all I can offer." Ko simply stated.  
  
"It is wonderful. Thank you so much." Relena putted some of the shopping bags she had with her on the bed.  
  
"Good night, Miss Nashada." Before leaving her for the night, Ko stopped at the doorframe to grant her a hospitable good-bye.  
  
*This is a nice temple, and Mr. Atakayama is really nice. I feel like I am at home... so comfortable. I hope I can stay here for a while, but if I stay too long they are bound to find me,* Relena thought as she coddled in the bed.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
Relena could not sleep any more, for the same thought ran through her head over and over again. *They are going to find you*. She wasn't surprised that she would have such a revelation, for this occurred frequently, but she had never woken so early from the premonition before. She moved slowly as not to make a sound. She did not know if Mr. Atakayama was awake, and she didn't want to disturb him if the matter could be avoided. To calm her nerves, she decided to walk the temple's grounds, and upon coming across a beautiful garden, stopped at the sight ahead of her. Mr. Atakayama was practicing a kata-his speed and grace amazing her. She had seen Wufei practice his kata, but his skills and routine were nothing compared to what she was seeing now.  
  
"Oh! Miss Nashada, you're awake." Ko said as he stopped his kata.  
  
"Yes." Was all Relena managed to say as her amusement was overwhelming her.  
  
"What is it? Are you ok my dear?" A hint of preoccupation in Ko's voice.  
  
"Yes. Where did you learn that kata?" Relena asked, her glee still getting the best of her response and reason.  
  
"Years of training, learning and teaching." Ko answered simply.  
  
"Do you think I could learn that?"  
  
"Well, of course, my child. Everyone can learn. You just need to want it bad enough."  
  
"I know I want it but I don't know if I can learn that kind of stuff. You see, I am a pacifist and it would be against my ideals."  
  
"I am a pacifist as well, but understand this: Learning martial arts is not about fighting but about mind and body being united."  
  
"Mr. Atakayama, would you please teach me?" Relena said as she gave him her puppy eyes, which she knew no one could resist.  
  
"How can I say no when you look at me with those puppy eyes?" Ko said with a smile. "But on one condition."  
  
"Anything," Relena said almost too quickly.  
  
"Please call me Ko." Ko said as he laughed at Relena's quick and apprehensive reply.  
  
"Ok, but only if you call me Nasha." Relena's smile grew wider as she retaliated with his own humor.  
  
"A deal it is then." Ko was able to say before they both bursted out laughing.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
"Kick. Kick.Kick. Punch.Punch.Punch.Spin. Kick.Spin.Kick. NO! You're doing it too slow and you are hesitating before you act. Start again." Ko ordered as Relena tried to catch her breath. They had been training for two or three months now, and she was getting better and better, so much so that Ko thought she was a natural martial artist and a very fast learner.  
  
"Master Ataka," She called him by the nickname she had come up with, " let me rest. We have been practicing since dawn." She said while pointing towards the setting sun.  
  
"Ok. Let's go inside the temple." Ko then gently put his arm around Relena's shoulder and guided her to the temple.  
  
*Almost six months after Relena had started to train with Ko*  
  
"Kick.Kick.Punch.Punch. Spin Kick.Kick Good, very good." Ko said with a bright smile in his face. During this six months Relena, or Nashada as he knew her, had become almost like a granddaughter, but he could tell that she was hiding something. "Now let's go in and then you can tell me about what you're hiding."  
  
"What do you mean, Master Ataka?" Relena asked innocently, starting to get nervous.  
  
"I mean the secret that you have been hiding from me. Your real name is not Nashada is it?" Ko said. As soon as he saw her reaction he knew he was right but he kept quiet until she spoke.  
  
"No, my real name is Relena," she said, casting her eyes to the floor. She could not get the last part of her name out, for she was sure he would recognize her immediately, " Peacecraft."  
  
"Well, Relena, how about we go inside and you can tell me all about what made you come here?" came Ko's calm answer. Relena was surprised, for she had been expecting him to be taken aback by her confession, but then again, with Ko you never knew... he was just like Heero.  
  
"But we need to practice!" Relena whined. She loved practicing because it helped her relax.  
  
"No we don't. Now let's go inside." Ko said in a calm but serious voice. "Besides, there is no more to learn."  
  
"What do you mean?" Relena questioned, trying to shift the conversation to a more pleasant topic.  
  
"I will tell you what I mean after you tell me who you are." Ko stopped for a second then continued. "Or."  
  
"Or what?" Relena asked teasingly, standing in a fighting stance.  
  
"Or this!" Ko said while he dove in to tickle her. After a while of tickling each other, they went into the temple and talked until the early hours of the next day.  
  
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Ok, that is it for this chapter, tell me what you think. Any suggestions or comments please e-mail them to: maru87678@hotmail.com 


	4. The New Member

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
A.N. Just a little reminder since I am going to be using Nashada's name a lot in this and future chapters: Nashada is Relena.  
Also I am not sure about the spelling of Hilde's last name.  
  
The Perfect Life  
  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter four  
  
Six months later.  
  
Heero was typing away furiously in his laptop. All the other Gundam pilots stared in amazement as to how fast Heero could type.  
  
"Heero, buddy, you should give up and let Relena live in peace. It is obvious she doesn't want to be found, and besides, we have searched for her for more than a year and we can't find even the smallest of clues." Duo said from his comfortable position in the couch. All he got for an answer was Heero's death glare. "Fine, fine, it was only a suggestion."  
  
"We could have missed something." Trowa said matter of factly. But before anyone could say anything, someone knocked.  
  
"You guys, Une is calling an emergency meeting." Hilde said with a smile that grew when she saw Duo.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
"So what's the big emergency?" Duo asked as all the Gundam pilots entered the room where Hilde, Catherine, Dorothy-who were now all Preventers-, Sally, Milliardo and Noin were seated around a circular table.  
  
"We have received information of a new war group," Une stated calmly, "and a new member will be entering your group."  
  
"Who is it? Is it a girl?" All the girls asked at unison. They were all begging for the new member to be a girl, for the guys always out numbered them.  
  
"Her name is Nashada Wong," Une started but was interrupted by the other people in the room.  
  
"ALL RIGHT!!"  
  
"Another onna!!" (A.N.: Try and guess who said that. I wonder.)  
  
"She will be coming here in a week and I want you ALL to welcome her." Une nearly shouted, trying to get everyone to hear her.  
  
"Is she qualified to join in with us? We all do pretty extreme and dangerous missions." Trowa said in his ever-calm voice.  
  
"She is more than qualified. She excels in martial arts, fencing and mobile suite piloting, and even more, she obeys orders without protest." Une stated.  
  
"For how long has she been with the Preventers?" Trowa asked. Everyone was surprised, seeing that Trowa was talking a lot more than usual.  
  
"She has only been with the Preventers for four or five months, but she has already proven herself a valuable asset to the organization. She was the one who attained the information about the new war group. All of her squad returned alive when it was expected that not even half of them would make it back and all of the soldiers said that it was basically because of her. Do you understand now?" Une turned and was going out of the office but stopped in the doorframe and tuned around waiting for an answer.  
  
"Yes, ma'm." Everyone in the room responded in unison before they left the room.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
A week later.  
  
"Ok, everyone, you know why you are here right?" Une asked getting ready for the battle that was about to take place in her office. "Good. Nashada, come in please." The doors opened and a thin female figure came through them. The girl had black hair that fell straight into the middle of her back, honey brown eyes and a smile that went from ear to ear. Nashada was fighting with all her might the need to roll into the ground laughing.  
  
"Everyone this is Nashada Wong, the newest member of our Preventer Elite Team." Une signaled towards Nashada  
  
"Nice meeting you all." Nashada said as she lightly bowed.  
  
"Nashada this are," Une started from left to right, " Milliardo Peacecraft, Lucretzia Noin, Sally Po, Wufei Chang, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Rababa Winner, Heero Yuy, Hilde Schbeiker, Catherine Bloom and Dorothy Catalonia. They will be your teammates."  
  
"Nice meeting you, too. My name is Milliardo Peacecraft."  
  
" I am Lucretzia Noin but you can call me Lu or Noin"  
  
"I am Sally Po. If you ever need anything please feel free to ask."  
  
"Huh"  
  
Nashada almost bursted out laughing when Sally jammed her elbow in Wufei's ribs.  
  
"Duo Maxwell. I may run, I may hide but I never tell a lie."  
  
"Trowa Barton. Nice meeting you."  
  
"Quatre Rababa Winner. It's an honor."  
  
"Heero Yuy"  
  
"Hilde Schbeiker. We have been waiting for you"  
  
"Catherine Bloom. If you need help for anything just ask"  
  
"Dorothy Catalonia. If you ever want to fence just call me."  
  
"Now that you all know each other, could you girls show Nashada her quarters? She must be tired. It was an eight hour flight."  
  
"Sure." All the girls said in unison as they guided Nashada out of the office and into the main hall.  
  
"What do you think of her?" Une said when she saw the faces of everyone in the room.  
  
"She looks like Wufei's clone except for her eyes." Duo turned to see a very, very angry Wufei before he went of into a crazy sprint trying to avoid Wufei's katana.  
  
"You braded baka!! Come back here!!" Wufei yelled in the hall way still running after Duo.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
"So Une said you are a good fencer and martial artist." Dorothy commented as they started to walk towards their quarters.  
  
"Yeah, I love martial arts." Nashada said trying not to laugh. It had been Dorothy who had taught her to fence after the Mariemea accident.  
  
"How about a little fencing match?" Dorothy looked, as they were about to reach the fencing room, which was in their way.  
  
"Dorothy!! Une said to take her to her quarters. Besides she must be really tired." Catherine said. She knew that Dorothy would try to use every single occasion that she could to do a little fencing.  
  
"No, it's ok. I need to relax." Nashada simple stated as she trying to massage her aching shoulders.  
  
"Ah, maybe we should warn you. Dorothy is a really good fencer. In fact, she is the best in the whole organization." Hilde gently putted her arm around Nashada's shoulder.  
  
"It's ok. I think I can handle it. I learned from the best." Nashada said with a smile in her face. Besides Dorothy's teachings she had learned some things about swords and fencing with Ko in Japan as part of her training.  
  
A few minutes later they were in the fencing room. A crowd was already forming a circle around them. All of the girls were in the center of the circle except for Hilde who had gone to get the boys. They were about to start the fencing when Hilde came in with the boys and Une.  
  
"What is going on here?" Une asked a little annoyed. She wanted Nashada to rest.  
  
"It's ok, Une. It's just a friendly game. The travel got me a little stressed and there is no better way to get it out than with a nice little fencing match." Nashada smiled at Une and signaled for her to get out of the way.  
  
After some five minutes everyone in the room was amazed. No one ever had lasted this long fencing with Dorothy and Nashada was still looking cool.  
  
"You are good!" Dorothy said in between attacks.  
  
"You are good too!" Nashada answered almost immediately. "But not good enough!" Nashada said as she gently touched Dorothy's vest with her sword. But Dorothy was too amazed at the fact that Nashada had used one of her personal moves to notice that she had lost. Dorothy had not showed that move to anyone but to the team members and Relena.  
  
Ah's and What's could be heard all over the room. Wufei was amazed, even he hadn't been able to beat Dorothy.  
  
"I told you, I learned from the best." Nashada said as she offered her hand to Dorothy in a sporty manner. With this Dorothy finally stepped out of her thoughts and shook Nashada's hand.  
  
"Well, it seems that I have met my match." Dorothy said before she started laughing and soon after all the girls, including Nashada started laughing with her.  
  
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Ok, that is it for this chapter, tell me what you think. Any suggestions or comments please e-mail them to: maru87678@hotmail.com 


	5. The Torture

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
The Perfect Life  
  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter five  
  
Wufei let a yawn escape his mouth as he made his way to the garden where he practiced his morning katas. As he was making his way to his favorite spot the figure of another person caught his eyes. This was unusual because he was one of the first people to wake up in the whole base. But when he came closer to the figure he was more surprised. It was Nashada and she was practicing a kata of great difficulty. *But not as difficult as mine.* Was Wufei's first thought. He was not about to admit that a woman could do anything better than him. Wufei was so deep in though that he did not noticed that Nashada had stopped and was now looking at him.  
  
"Is there something wrong, Wufei?" Nashada asked him as she carefully returned to practicing her kata.  
  
"Nothing. Where did you learn that?" Wufei asked. He knew for a fact that only a very skilled person could practice that kata let alone with the grace and speed she was doing it.  
  
"Well, isn't it obvious. I learned it from my teacher. Master Ataka." She said as she carefully continued to practice. "Why all the sudden curiosity?" Annoyed by Nashada's answer and by his own actions Wufei turned and was about to leave when he heard Nashada's voice again.  
  
"Or were you just really wondering how a woman could do such kind of katas that only masters of martial arts can do? You had not seen this kata before had you? But then again how could you if you're just a weakling?" Nashada knew she had chosen her words correctly for as soon as she finished Wufei was already in front of her and his face was red with anger.  
  
"How dare you WOMAN say that I am a weakling?!?!" Wufei yelled so hard that it could be heard all over the base. In no time all of the elite team was there in front of them.  
  
"Wufei!! Calm down!!" Sally screamed after the thousandth time that she had tried to get him to hear her.  
  
"It's all right Sally. I know that now you cannot leave without fighting me. It would be against the Dragon Clan rules." Nashada teased Wufei. Ko had not only taught her martial arts itself but also the story of each of the main clans. Even though the Dragon Clan was not one of the main ones Nashada had insisted that Ko taught her about it.  
  
"What do you know about my clan and who told you that?" Wufei's anger was subsided by his intrigue. Very few people in his clan were still alive and even fewer still followed the clan rules.  
  
"My teacher is a very wise and skillful man." Nashada stated simply with an air of honor and respect in her voice. "So are we going to fight or are we going to just stand around and chat." Nashada needed the training. She was used to practicing daily with Ko but no one in the base knew as much martial arts as she did. She figured that provoking Wufei into a fight would be the best way to train.  
  
"Nashada! Stop! Wufei is really good at martial arts!" Sally was scared and confused. She did not know what to feel. She was mad at Nashada because she knew that Nashada was purposely provoking him and she was worried that Wufei might hurt Nashada.  
  
"It's ok Sally. I think I can take him." Nashada said as she assumed her fighting stance. Her stance was one that Ko had told her that it was the best to have during a fight. Wufei, too, took his fighting stance. All the people around them started stepping back.  
  
Wufei started to throw punches and kicks but Nashada was just too fast and was dodging all of his attacks. Wufei then started to attack more quickly and harder until he punched her in the stomach. Nashada stumbled back but quickly caught her breath and began attacking with such an incredible speed that Wufei was dumbstruck. She was throwing punches and kicks to his face and upper body. Each of her hits landing on their designated spot. Her graceful and quick moves seemed to be too much for Wufei. But Wufei was too proud to let a woman win. He made his move, but he did not know how much he would pay for it. He threw a kick that was aimed for Nashada's ribs and after a few seconds of waiting for her ribs to crack and the sound being neglected he opened his eyes. All he could see was the black sole of the dancing shoes that Nashada wore. One thought entered his mind before he hit the ground and fell unconscious. *She won.*  
  
After a few minutes Wufei regained consciousness to look up into two pairs of eyes that looked worriedly at him. Wufei immediately recognized Sally and Nashada's eyes.  
  
"Wufei, are you ok?" Sally said worry was evident in her voice.  
  
"Yeah, I am fine." Wufei said trying to remember what happened before he lost consciousness. He then turned to Nashada. He had thought that he would find pride and arrogance in her eyes but instead her eyes where full of worry. "You won, Nashada. You are strong." Wufei had admitted his loss. For the first time he would recognize that a woman was strong. Well not exactly the first time. Merian and Sally were the only women who he had come to recognize as strong but now Nashada had proven herself to him. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he did not notice the looks of surprise that everyone had. Even Heero and Trowa where surprised that Wufei would say that out loud let alone in front of all of them.  
  
"That does not matter now. How do you feel?" Nashada was still worried. At this act of kindness she earned Wufei's highest respect. She was not arrogant about her victory; she was worried about the well being of her adversary.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
It had been a week since Nashada had fought with Wufei and for the moment everything was calm and no one in the team had missions so they were all stationed in the grounds. Une watched from her hiding place as all of the P.E.T. (Preventer Elite Team) played around.  
  
"No! It is not fair all of you are ganging up on me!!" Duo shouted as he was cornered. Everyone was covered in whip cream, chocolate sauce, dough and jelly. Each of them was carrying something in their hands.  
  
"It is all your fault. If you had not tried to 'help' us make the cookies this would have never happened!" Nashada shouted moving closer to Duo.  
  
"What?!?! I just wanted to eat!!" Duo whined as he tried to back up but was only met by the wall.  
  
"When do you DON'T want to eat!!" Hilde shouted from behind Nashada.  
  
"It is not my fault that Wufei's clone did not hurry up!!" Duo felt even more desperate when he saw the glare that Nashada gave him. Duo was used to get death glares from everyone but Nashada's was even scarier than Heero's. " Ok, Heero, you have been left behind. Nashada's death glare is the best." Duo started walking side ways until he was in the corner when he saw the death glare both Nashada and Heero were giving him.  
  
Une looked around. Milliardo had whip cream all over his hair and face and a little bit was hanging down his chin. Noin's face was covered with jelly. Sally had chocolate sauce in all her clothes. Hilde and Nashada were the worst. Hilde was covered head to toe with a mix of chocolate sauce, whip cream and jelly. Nashada was covered in chocolate sauce and jelly and her hair was a mess with whip cream, chocolate sauce, dough and jelly all over it. Dorothy was almost saved except for her face that was splashed with jelly and dough. Catherine's usually red hair was now a deep brown caused by the chocolate sauce, and her shirt was covered in dough. Wufei's black shirt was gray-white with whip cream. Trowa was almost the same as Wufei with the exception that his shirt was purple-red with jelly. Heero and Quarter had their head covered with dough and chocolate. Duo, who was in the floor trying to convince Nashada to let him go, had dough all over his chest and his braid was messed up but clean. Suddenly, Une could not hold her laughter anymore at the comic scene. Everyone was putting whip cream, chocolate sauce, dough and jelly all over Duo. Duo was begging them to let his braid alone but Hilde and Nashada had already bathed it with everything they could find.  
  
"What is going on!!?" Une tried to sound as mad as she could but it was not easy, especially since she wanted to help them.  
  
"The braided baka started to play with the food and got us all messed!!" Wufei angrily shout as he stepped away from where everyone was.  
  
"We were making some cookies when Duo came to supposedly help and he started spilling things all over us and some how everyone ended up with food all over them selves." Nashada said as she took a break from torturing Duo to explain the situation to Une.  
  
"Help!!! Une, Help me!!" Duo shouted before Hilde stuffed his mouth with whip cream.  
  
"Nah, torture him for a little while. After all, he did ruin the cookies for all of us." Une said with a big smile. She had not seen any one in the team this happy since Relena disappeared. She noticed that since Nashada came everyone seemed happier and more optimistic. This thought reminded her of why she had come here in the first place. "Ok. That is enough," when she said this whines where heard all over the room except for Duo who silently thanked Une as he tried to clean his face, "I have a mission for you." As if she had put a spell on them, they all dropped their smiles and acquired serious positions. "All of you be at my office 3:00 P.M. sharp and please clean yourselves up after you finish." Une ended as she left the room.  
  
When Une was out of the room Nashada and Hilde turned to Duo again. There was a mischievous grin on their faces as they looked at each other and then at Duo. Duo knew this was trouble. Even if Nashada and Hilde had just met a week earlier they acted like they knew each other for years, which wasn't too far off from the truth. Then they looked at the other people in the room. When they turned to Duo again all of them had mischievous grins. Now Duo was sure he was in big, very big trouble. Surely more than what he could handle.  
  
"HHHHEEEEELLLLLPPPPP!!!!!!!" Was all Duo was able to yell as his torture began once again.  
  
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Ok, that is it for the first chapter, tell me what you think. Any suggestions or comments please e-mail them to: maru87678@hotmail.com 


	6. The Mission & Nashada's kid?

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
The Perfect Life  
  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter six  
  
3:00 PM  
  
"Ok, we are here o great one!" Duo said as he jokingly bowed but after seeing the glare that Une gave him he understood that the matter that was about to be discussed was not to be taken lightly.  
  
"Here is your mission," Une gave each a file, "Your mission will be carried out in team mode. It will be in Japan," she took a little break to look at Nashada and knew what the girl was going to ask, "And yes, Nashada, you all will be staying with your teacher, Mr. Atakayama, in his temple." Nashada fought with all her will to sustain the cry of joy at the idea of seeing Ataka again.  
  
"When will we be leaving? And what will we be doing in Japan?" Heero looked more serious than usual, but what could you expect, his birth land was in danger and even though he would not admit it he cared about what happened there.  
  
"You will be leaving today at 7:25 p.m. There has been information that a base of the new war group is there. The operation is to locate the base and destroy it if founded. The operation will start two days after you arrive in Japan." Une wanted to laugh when she saw the expression in all of their faces. Nashada looked happy and out of this world. Duo and Hilde were staring at each other and seemed to not have heard a word of what she just said. Wufei, Trowa and Heero were staring into space with a lifelessness that made Une wonder if they were awake or for that matter alive. Milliardo, Noin and Sally seemed to be paying enough attention to please her.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
Twelve hours later.  
  
"COME ON GUYS!!! HURRY UP!!! YOU MOVE TOO SLOW!!" Nashada shouted from the top of the stairs that leaded to the temple as the others were struggling to catch up with her, even Heero. She could hear them say things like 'that onna, I will show her' or 'as soon as we get to the temple I am going to eat a horse'.  
  
"Nashada, you probably say that because you were trained here and you are used to going up and down the stairs." Noin still sounded breathless but at least she had stopped sweating.  
  
"NASHA!!! DEAR CHILD!!" An old man came shouting out of the temple with his hands raised as if waiting for a little child to jump into his arms, which looked exactly like what Nashada did next. The force of her body send them swirling around and Mr. Atakayama seemed to lift her as if she were nothing more than a feather. After a few seconds the older man gently returned Nashada to the ground and turned towards where the rest of her friends were. "Now, are you going to present us?"  
  
"OHH! Yes, sorry, Ataka." She motioned for the group to come forward, and as soon as everyone was in front of herself and Mr. Atakayama she said, starting from right to left, "This is Milliardo Peacecraft and his future- to-be wife, Lucretzia Noin. This is Sally Po and Wufei Chang. These are Dorothy Catalonia, Catherine Bloom, Trowa Barton and Quatre Rababa Winner. Last but not least, Heero Yuy," she stopped and turned slightly to signal at Mr. Atakayama, "This, guys, is Mr. Ko Atakayama. My martial arts master, dear friend, and beloved grandfather."  
  
"What? You said you did not had any family beside your mom and dad." In one of Hilde's and Nashada's usual conversations Nashada had told her about her 'past' and her 'family', obviously none of it ever existed or happened.  
  
"No, that's not what I meant. He is the nearest thing I ever had to a grandparent so after a while I just called him grandpa." Nashada gently hugged the elderly man.  
  
"Mr.. Atakayama. Ko," Wufei finally spitted out after calming himself and trying to think again, "You are Atakayama Ko, one of the greatest martial artists in China and Japan." Mr. Atakayama only nodded in response as if it was as clear as water. "And you," He pointed towards Nashada, "are his student." Nashada was confused and did not know what was going on but still she nodded. Wufei looked like he was about to faint. After all how many people get the honor to meet such a famed martial artist let alone live with him. But what ever else was about to be said the shout of a child stopped it.  
  
"MOMMY, MOMMY IS BACK!!!!" A six-year-old child came running out of the temple and into Nashada's arms. The same ritual that had happened between Nashada and Mr. Atakayama was happening now with the six-year-old and Nashada.  
  
"Nashada! You have a son and you did not tell us!!" Hilde was the first one to recuperate after the shock of seeing a nineteen-year-old young woman with a six-year-old child. To be franc all of them were shocked, yes, even the perfect soldier. When Mr. Atakayama could not contain his laughter everyone looked at him.  
  
"Sorry, sorry. No, that is not Nashada's son. You see, the child's real mother died at childbirth and his father works all day long to provide his child with the best. I accepted to help his father by looking after him. Nashada got very close to him when she was staying here. She holds a starling resemblance to his real mother so it helps him deal with his suffering by calling Nashada mom. Both of them are very lonely and it helps them to have each other's company. Oh! His name is Nicholas but we usually call him Nick." As Mr. Atakayama ended the faces of the young group relaxed and looked at Nashada and Nick who where in their own world not even knowing anyone else was there until Nick started saying that he was hungry.  
  
"I guess that you and Duo will be getting along, Nick" Nashada took Nick into her arms and lead the group to the temple's kitchen.  
  
Next Morning.  
  
Most of the group had already woken up and were wondering around the temple together trying to find Nashada and Mr. Atakayama, who had mysteriously disappeared. As they passed one of the most secluded gardens in the temple they noticed to shadows against the rising sun. The two shadows moved as one and with a grace and agility that one might think that the other shadow was a reflection in a mirror. When they neared they recognized Nashada and Mr. Atakayama, who were practicing the same kata, as they neared closer they watch them bow and assume a fighting stance. They briefly started fighting at a speed at which most of them where unaware of some of their movements. They stopped as Mr. Atakayama nearly punched Nashada in the stomach. He straightened his back and shouted an order in Japanese. All eyes turned to Heero waiting for a translation.  
  
"He said 'Good but you must concentrate. Don't stop in between attacks and maintain defense.' " Heero answered without taking his eyes of the fighting duo.  
  
"Man, how can she get any better than that? She even beat Wufei, the King of Martial Arts." Duo, who would regret it later, said. Wufei took his katana out and was about to take a slash at Duo when .  
  
"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!" Nashada's scream sounded all around and echoed against the temple walls. All of the team started running towards the fallen figure.  
  
Nashada was on the floor holding her ankle while Mr. Ataka was trying to see if any harm was done.  
  
"What happened?" Hilde asked when she saw what was happening.  
  
"I was attacking when I took a bad step and all my weight was put into the ankle, so obviously it got hurt. Don't worry I will be ok by sundown. It's not like it has not happened before." Nashada finished with a smile to reassure them that she was all right.  
  
"Let's get inside eat breakfast and some tea, how does that sound to everyone?" Mr. Ataka offered as he helped a limping Nashada to the temple.  
  
As Nashada had said by sundown she was up and around like nothing had happened. Right now she was at the kitchen with her hair pulled into a lazy ponytail cooking some vegetables and rice for her hungry guests. Nick came in running and hid behind Nashada's apron.  
  
"Nick, what are you hiding from?" Nashada asked the little bundle underneath her apron.  
  
"Trowa and Quatre and Wufei and Heero are after Duo and Duo is after me so I am hiding behind you because Duo is afraid of you. And if he is afraid of you then he will not use me as a shield to protect himself. You will not let him right mommy?" Nick spoke somewhat fast but Nashada still understood what he was trying to say.  
  
"Don't worry, mommy won't let evil Duo get to you." As soon as Nashada said this Duo came in looking for Nick.  
  
"Where is he? Where is Nick, Nashada?" Duo said impatiently as he glanced back at the door that he had just came in from fearing that the rest of the G-boys would come in and chop his head.  
  
"What did you did that made the boys so mad, Duo?" Nashada knew that if he was running from them it meant that he had done something to make them mad.  
  
"Trowa is mad because I used some of his gel in my braid. Quatre is mad because I put some spices in his tea. Heero is mad because I messed up with his laptop again. Wufei is mad because. well, for the simple reason that he is Wufei. They all found out that I did that so they are after me but I know they all have a soft spot for Nick, well maybe Heero and Wufei don't but they are scared of you. Surly if they even put a hand on Nick you will kick their asses right?" Duo finished with puppy eyes begging for her protection.  
  
"Fine, Duo, I will get you out of this mess with two conditions." Nashada proceeded to finish cutting the vegetable for dinner.  
  
"You have a deal. What two conditions?" Duo asked more out of curiosity than wariness.  
  
"Number one, you give an apology to the guys," She faced him to see him cringe, "Number two, you convince everyone to take a field trip tomorrow and sightsee Japan. Everyone does include Heero and Wufei."  
  
"Nasha, you know how difficult it will be to get them to go." Duo wined as he thought of all the begging he would have to do in order to make them all go.  
  
"I will get you out of your little mess right now but if they don't go somehow they are going to find out just who put the dye on the shampoo bottles at HQ." Nasha almost sang in a sweet sugary voice that made Duo wish Heero was here right now to kill him and stop his suffering. Just then four very angry ex-pilots walked into the kitchen with very murderous looks on their faces.  
  
"Duo Maxwell" All of them said in dangerously low voices.  
  
"Umm. Nashada has something to tell you." Duo quickly hid behind Nasha only to realize that another pair of small legs where in front of Nasha.  
  
"Mommy is protecting evil Duo if he co- " Nick was cut of by Nashada's hand.  
  
"I just convinced Duo that what he did was wrong and he should apologize to all of you for what he did." Nashada tried to calm the boys but her efforts failed miserably. The guys started heading towards Nasha. Nashada's hand searching for something to use as a weapon, not that she was planning to use it but just to scare them away. Her hand found her cutting knife.  
  
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Ok, that is it for this chapter, tell me what you think. Any suggestions or comments please e-mail them to: maru87678@hotmail.com 


	7. The New Gundams

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
A.N. I am so sorry I just realized something in all of the other chapters, except for the first, the title of the story is different. It is the old title of the story before I decided that the current title fits it better. Also I don't have a name for the enemy so if anyone has any suggestions please help me out! Hey, Geminia, here is the bit about the Gundams that you were wondering about. Thank you, now on with the story.  
  
The Perfect Life  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter 7  
  
With an available weapon at hand she got into a fighting stance and asked the boys this: "If you don't believe my words then you will believe my knife." But she couldn't hold her smile and the boys knew she wasn't serious. They continued their advance and almost had Duo and Nashada cornered when Cathy came in.  
  
"Une is in the vidphone, says she wants to talk to everyone. Apparently they found more information about the enemy." Cathy spoke quickly but slowed as she guessed what had been happening. "Stop playing games and come. You guys know Une doesn't have any patience."  
  
With that they all left the kitchen and headed to the living room, of course the guys sending glares to Duo who was at the end of the group. As soon as they entered the room Une started speaking.  
  
"Finally, for being the Preventer Elite Team you guys take way too long to gather. Continuing into the real reason for this call, we have just found out more information about the enemy and their base in Japan. It seems they have their most advanced suits and weapons in this base but the problems start here. The security is much more advanced than what we thought it to be and that is only the beginning. Their man power is double of the predicted and more than half of it is in permanent duty in that base. Completing the mission with the equipment that you were given will result impossible and more of a suicide than anything else. This is why I have called you, to see if anyone of you can figure a way to carry out this mission without the whole team getting killed."  
  
They stayed in silence for a couple of seconds until Duo started to drum his fingers on the table, much to the annoyance of the other occupants in the room.  
  
"STOP! Your incessant tapping will not let me think! It is not honorable to not let others think!" Wufei puffed as he leaned against the wall once again.  
  
"You stop with your 'honor', it has no place here. Besides I think better when I move." Duo indignantly crossed his arms over his chest and leaned into the sofa.  
  
"You. Think. I never could imagine that in a million years." Wufei's sarcasm reached a new level with every word he spoke.  
  
"The Gundams. We could use the Gundams to infiltrate the base and continue the mission as planed once we are inside." The tiny whisper echoed throughout the room before chaos broke out. Everyone put their opinion in at the same time and argued against each other. Heero only stared at Nashada who had been the one to voice the solution. He knew for a fact that anyone that wasn't a high ranking Minister or Preventer knew nothing about the re-construction of the Gundams. So he wondered how a Preventer of only a couple of months and whom, to the knowledge of the Preventers, had never been involved in politics knew about the current Gundams.  
  
"Nashada is right. I will have all of the available Gundams shipped to our base in Tokyo. As of the moment there are nine available suits so one of you will have to ride with another pilot. I will leave the minor details for you guys to plan together. The only requirement from my part is that you work as a team and call me if anything happens. Your mission has been moved a day back as you need time to familiarize yourselves with your Gundams. The Gundams should be in the Tokyo base at around 22:00, your time, tomorrow. I recommend you get a good night sleep, a good meal and relax tomorrow, we don't know when you will be able to do any of the three again. Good night." With that the screen went blank and the people in the room looked at each other silently.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
The Next Morning  
  
"So, Duo, did you convince them to go or am I going to enjoy a bloody show?" Nasha said with a wicked glint in her eyes.  
  
"Well. You see." Duo gulped loudly and backed away, "I did get them to say that they would come but. well. see. they think that we are going to see the surroundings of the base so that we are ready for the mission."  
  
"I specifically said that YOU had to get them to go in a SIGHT-SEEING trip not a reconnaissance trip. I don't know if you know the difference but the first one is for fun and the second one is for WORK."  
  
"At least they are going out with us and by the time they realize that we are not going to do what I told them it will be too late for them to turn back. Besides Une said you were good with negotiations." Already thinking someway to get out of his current problem, Duo was seriously considering falling to his knees and begging. When Nasha's temper started things could get seriously nasty. When he heard people coming their way he started giving thanks to whatever higher power had saved his neck.  
  
"Nasha, everyone is ready, should we get started?" Hilde smirked while she opened the door to show a sunny and clear sky day over the city of Tokyo.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
Hours Later  
  
"Ladies and gentleman, the last attraction in our tour, the Tokyo Tower." Nasha tried to mimic the tones of the tour attendants. For some reason, beyond her understanding, Wufei, Heero and Trowa glared at her before they angrily walk, or rather stomped, with the rest of the group towards the Tower. But even the angry trio had to admit that the view was fabulous. The setting sun gave the whole city an orange light while some of the lights started to turn on. It really looked more like a postcard than anything else.  
  
"This is my favorite place at this time of the day. I love the way that the city looks right before night falls." Nasha couldn't help the big sight, she had missed being home. Odd enough she felt this place was more of a home to her than her old, huge and lonely mansion. She gently hugged herself and turned to the friends that she had very much missed and gave them a smile. "I think our Gundams should be ready by now, besides we are close to the base." She pointed to the Preventers building before moving away from the window.  
  
"You really love it here don't you, Nasha?" Cathy asked while they walked to the base.  
  
Thinking of all the lonely nights and quite days she had spent in the mansion she realized once more how much she loved it here. "Yes, I sure do, Cathy." She smiled but it was a sad smile.  
  
"Then why work with the Preventers if you knew it would take you away from here?" Sally normally didn't like to poke into people's lives but she was curious.  
  
"Well, during the war I wasn't able to fight, both because other people wouldn't let me and because I wouldn't let myself." She thought back to her life back then, how empty and meaningless it felt. "But then after the war was over something changed in me and I felt the need to protect this peace." Yes, something had changed in her after the war. She wanted to be the protector not the protected. Besides she had figured that the last place they would look for her would be among them. She shrugged off her thoughts as they entered the base.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
A tiny man in a white lab coat met them at the entrance of the hanger where the Gundams where being held.  
  
"If you will follow me I will show you to your Gundams. Also General Une told me that the Preventer who is missing their Gundam is Catherine Bloom." With that said he led them into the hanger.  
  
"This one is for Heero Yuy. The next is Hilde Sc..ha," He was interrupted as Hilde raised her hand, "Thank you. The next is Duo Maxwell. The next is Trowa Barton. Dorothy Catalonia is next. Quatre Winner after her. The one after is Sally Po. The next is Wufei Chang. After that is Lucretzia Noin. The next Zechs Marquise. The last one is Nashada Wong. The Gundams have no name as of yet so you may name them what ever you wish but I need their names for the files. I'll leave you now to get acquainted with your suites. Be back in an hour." The small man left the hangar. As soon as the door was heard the girls ran to their Gundams while the boys took their time.  
  
Heero's looked exactly like Wing Zero but its wings were bigger and had a bluish tone. Hilde's was mostly black but had a bit of baby blue and the figure of the Gundam seemed rounder than the boys. Duo's looked like his beloved Shinigami but this Gundam carried two scythes instead of one. Trowa's looked like Heavyarms but he could see that more ammo and machines were built into it now. Dorothy's like Hilde's was rounder but hers was mostly red with a bit of brown. Quatre's looked like Sandrock but he could see a laser beam attached to its back. Sally's like the other girls' was rounder and it was the color of old gold with a bit of pale yellow. Wufei's was like Altron except for the long laser sword that was at its feet. Noin's was a dark and light purple and like the other girls' it was rounder. Zechs' was like Epion but like Quatre his had a laser beam attached to its back. Nashada's was dark blue with white and pale blue but it had wings like Heero's. Hers too was rounder than the other Gundams.  
  
An hour had passed by and they heard the scientists enter the hangar. He busied himself by scribbling notes. Once they were all gathered around him he asked for the names for their Gundams. Hilde's would be called Hell's Gate for which she received a thumbs up from Duo. Dorothy's would be named Vici which as Dorothy explained later was Latin for conquer. Sally's was now Excorde meaning with all the heart in Latin. Noin's would be Cara which meant beautiful in Italian. Zech decided to maintain the tradition and called it Epion III. Wufei's became Honor. Quatre decide to call his Desertstorm. Trowa's was now Wildarms. Duo scratched his head and called his Hades. Heero decided to call his Thisbe. As he announced this a tiny gasp escaped Nasha's mouth before she could stop herself. Heero looked at her and his uncertainty arouse. To clear her head Nasha gave the man the name for hers, Heaven's Tear.  
  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
  
Long after everyone had gone to sleep Nasha stood in the open hall facing the garden where they practiced everyday. She could not help the memories. Thisbe. Another sigh escaped her lips. The only conversation that they had had, how could she forget?  
  
*Flashback* "What are you reading?" Heero nodded his head towards her book.  
  
"I am reading a roman myth. Would you like to me to tell you about it?" Her voice was polite and steady but inside she was shaking. Had Heero just started a conversation with her?  
  
"Hn" Was his only and usual response.  
  
"The story is like Romeo and Juliet but this one is much older than that. It's about a guy, Pyramus, and a girl, Thisbe, who are madly in love with each other but their parents won't hear about it. Then Pyramus thinks that Thisbe was eaten by a lion and kills himself. But Thisbe is not death and when she sees Pyramus dead she kills herself too. The Gods were so touched by their love that 'the color of the mulberry fruit still darkens to blood- red when it is ripe, and all that remained from both funeral pyres rests in a common urn'. It is such a lovely story a bit sad but touching really." She knew she was being childish but she said it anyway. " I hope one day someone will love me like that." 'God knows I already love someone in that way, you.'  
  
She smiled gently at Heero and started to talk with him.  
  
*End of Flashback*  
  
The memories didn't come alone. The pain came with them. The pain she had thought she had left behind. And also the longing but that she knew wouldn't go away, not with time nor with distance. With a sigh she went into the temple and struggled to sleep. When it came it was fitful and full of darkness.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Thanks for reading this chapter, the next one will probably be up about next week but I cannot promise anything. Thanks to CowgurlEvee, Kiki and Beth. Special thanks to Geminia and Sakura Kinomoto for all their commentaries and ideas. I will probably get some action in the next chapter but I don't know if it will be any good, I don't like to write about fights too much, but I will try, the things I do for you guys. ; p If you skipped the whole hangar thing you should at least read the names for their Gundams as they will be used in battles instead of the persons name in the future. He, he, he! Heero is starting to suspect something about Nasha. I am having so much fun. 


	8. The Accidents & Surprising Questions

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else, much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
A.N. I know the story is moving slowly but it will go faster after this. Also the beginning of this chapter is Heero thinking about things, mainly Relena, the same night as in the chapter before.  
  
The Perfect Life  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Everyone had gone to sleep long ago, or so he thought, but his mind wouldn't let him rest. Thisbe. What had made him call his Gundam that? Was it because of Relena? Relena. He had always wondered why him. Why had he survived but all those innocents died? How could a weapon outlast its creator? He would have gladly given up his life to save another's. If it would rid his soul of its heavy weight, he would do anything. He was sure no one would understand how he felt, because no one had committed as many wrongs as he had, not even his fellow pilots. They had avoided killing as much as they could but he would kill indiscriminately as long as he completed his mission. Now that the war was over, and his mind no longer filled with missions, he felt the weight of all his crimes upon his soul. He had killed more people than he cared to count. The blood of countless souls bathed his hands. And through all of it Relena had been his light. Admittedly at the beginning he really did hate her even thought of her as an obstacle for his mission. By the end of the war she had become his first and most important mission, to protect her life by any means necessary. But now that he had lost her he realized just how important she was. Not only to the world and peace but to him and to his life. He realized now that she had done everything everyone else hadn't. She had stayed with him, even when he had told her to go, through everything. She had believed, when no one else would have, in him and in what he could do. But above all she had had hope in him. Hope that he wasn't only the Perfect Soldier but also Heero, a simple human being. To everyone else he was a soldier, more a weapon than a human being. And yet she believed in him while he was busy breaking her heart. Of course he hadn't meant to do that but back then he had believed it was necessary. If he got too close she would be smeared with blood too. He wouldn't have it. He would not ruin her pureness to relieve his pain. Suddenly her words came back to him. 'People see me as a symbol, a figure, a doll. not as a human with human needs and feelings!!' Indeed before she left he too thought of her as a symbol of peace, a pure snow white dove among dirty ravens. Now, now what he wouldn't give to be able to hold her in his arms and tell her all of the things he wouldn't tell her before. He looked down at his empty hands and longed so much for her warmth that he surprised himself. He knew and could admit to himself that he loved her more than life it self. But she was gone now and by the looks of it she wasn't coming back. He stopped himself from thinking more as he knew it could go on and on for listless hours. It wasn't the first time this had happened. At the beginning, when she had just left, he would spend days just sitting without sleep or food only thinking of his life and what was to come but most of all he thought about her. 'Stop it! And go to sleep.' With that mental order he forced his body to shut down and his mind to rest. In the morning when his mind was refreshed he would remember Nasha's reaction to the name of his Gundam and what it could mean. But for now his dreams were dark and shadowy as they were most of the time.  
  
* * *  
  
Mission Schedule: 0500 Everyone awake and ready. 0730 Be in Gundams and ready to go. 0800 Penetrate enemy base while guard's shift changed.  
1000 Meet at their Gundams after their separate missions were  
completed.  
1200 Be back at Tokyo Base.  
  
But as we all know things usually don't go to plan and fate dislikes to be pressured with mortal schedules.  
  
The first misshapen, as agreed by everyone later, was a complete disaster, and not even an accidental one at that. Duo thought it his duty to prepare breakfast as he was normally the one who would eat the most out of the whole group. No one, not even Hilde, had eaten his cooking before and all were quite curious to know what it would be like. After breakfast it was decided that Duo would eat all he wanted but never put foot in the kitchen again. Not only had he used what seemed to be every plate, pot and skillet within the kitchen but had left the walls and furniture splattered with a grisly combination of unidentifiable substances. Simply cleaning the kitchen, as they couldn't leave the work to their host, had set them back a whole half hour. To say the least Heero was not pleased.  
  
The transportation provided the next set back. Seeing as they would return tired from the mission they couldn't simply walk all the way from the base so they had decided to rent two cars. Heero, Duo, Hilde, Wufei, Sally and Nasha would go in the dark blue van while Trowa, Cathy, Quatre, Dorothy, Zechs and Noin would go in the dark green van. From the time it took them to make their way from the temple to the cars Wufei and Sally had entered a dreadful argument and refused to be in the same car together. The problem came when no one in the other car would change places with Wufei or Sally. Battle broke out. Twenty minutes later Quatre agreed to change sits with Sally and everyone pilled into the different vans.  
  
Motion sickness had never affected Noin but for some strange reason, that was later attributed to Duo's mystery breakfast (though incorrectly assumed), the urge to heave proved to be too much even for Noin. She forced Zechs, who was driving, to stop the car and as soon as the van came to a stop she opened the door and the contents of her stomach would remain in their place no longer. The girls milled around Noin and tried to soothe her. After ten minutes a wobbly Noin was stuck back into the van by a peeved Heero.  
  
An hour behind schedule, the P.E.T. finally reached the Preventers Base.  
  
* * *  
  
She was scared. No way around it. She couldn't help it. Yes, she had been trained and was good at piloting mobile suites. But this wasn't a mobile suite it was a GUNDAM, her Gundam. Never in her wildest dream had she thought that after she left she would end up where she was. She had planed to live a peaceful, normal and anonymous life in a little isolated corner of the world. Yet here she was. Why was she here? The question popped into her head and startled her so much that she stumbled back a couple of steps as if a blow had struck her.  
  
"Whoa! You ok there, Nasha?" Nasha nodded and Hilde continued, "You should get your things ready. Heero says that we should be ready in five." With that she left for her gundam and turned to look back a couple of times. Something was wrong with Nasha and she would find out before the end of the day even if she had to kill Nasha to find out.  
  
As she closed the cockpit and opened communications with the others she couldn't stop thinking. What was she doing? Why had she joined the Preventers? Why had she accepted the spot at the P.E.T.? To be with her friends? She realized that the answer was yes. When she had joined she knew that she could by some odd chance she might see them again and yet she had still joined. When she had been offered the position in the P.E.T. she had known that she would find at least five of her old friends. To her great surprise she found that all her old friends were in the team. She had felt such joy and giddiness. She had wondered what they would say but then she remembered that she wouldn't be their old friend Relena but the new member Nashada. At that realization her heart fell and she found that in the back of her head she had longed to see and be with her friends again. What she wouldn't give to hear them call her by her real name again.  
  
"Earth to Nasha!!" The sound brought Re.Nasha out of her wonderings, she sighed briefly before focusing in the communication squares scattered around her screen, "You ready to go, beautiful?" Duo winked at her and she couldn't hold the smile back. It was good to be back among friends, even if they didn't know you were back.  
  
"Ready when you are, handsome. But you most stop flirting or Hilde will kill us both, darling." She saw both Hilde and Duo blush and a small laugh escaped her trough  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A.N. Sorry for the short chapter but at least it is something. I kind of have a writer's block. But don't worry I won't give up the story. Please tell me what you think of my story! Good, bad, sucks or anything, as long as it is constructive. Also please tell me any ideas or suggestions about where you would like the story to go, I sort of have an idea already but anything is welcomed. 


	9. The Shot

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else much to my own dismay *sobs*  
  
A.N. I am sorry I know it has been a really long while but school has been crazy, AP tests then CAT 6 tests. I also have a writer's block and can not write at all. Please review and tell me your ideas. Believe it or not it motivates me to write if I know that people like what I am writing. So pretty, pretty please review. OR I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD!!! (Sorry ;p got a little carried away)  
  
The Perfect Life  
By Stardust  
  
Chapter 9  
  
They had arrived at the base thirty minutes earlier and had split to fulfill their individual missions. Duo and Hilde were to go to the control room and gather as much information possible. Trowa and Cathy were to set up explosives around the different compounds while Quatre and Dorothy covered their backs. Noin, Zechs, Wufei and Sally were to deal with the enemy troops and destroy as much of the mobile suites as possible. Heero and Nasha were to find the commander of the base and kill him.  
  
* * *  
  
The plush carpet of the hallway cushioned their footsteps giving them even more stealth than usual. They had gotten pretty far into the building when they got discovered and then all hell broke loose. The alarms flared and an orange-reddish light illuminated the hallways. But the enemy soldiers weren't the only ones alerted by the sound. The rest of the team had waited until their team members where discovered to carry their individual missions. So with that they burst out from their hiding place and took off quickly, with a grace that came only from years of training and fighting, to accomplish their missions.  
  
* * *  
  
Heero and Nasha had gotten to the corridor where the office of the commander was. It was surprising how little resistance they had encountered. Most of the soldiers had simply fled outside or to their suites. For being such a large base they sure didn't have a lot of discipline or organization. But to Nasha's mind it was a bit too easy. They would have to keep their eyes opened for any surprises.  
  
Nasha snapped out of her thoughts when Heero signaled to her that they had arrived at the office. She scolded herself quickly for letting her mind wonder during a mission and did as Heero indicated. In perfect sync they pushed the doors opened and quickly scanned the room. It was lavish with a central desk full of papers and all around the walls there were advanced control stations. At each one of these stations sat a high ranking officer that was in charge of his specific station. A man sat behind the central desk in a large plushy chair.  
  
"I welcome you to my base, Preventer Wong and Preventer Yuy. You didn't really think that you got here so easily simply because of your skill, did you?" The man stood from the chair to reveal a large heavy frame with soft brown hair and emerald green eyes and a terrorizing maniac smirk. "I let you come this far so that you could see the awesome power of our organization. Also, I wanted to invite you to join our cause or die a quite painful death."  
  
The combination of his menacing tone and the way he looked lustfully at Nasha's form made her shiver unconsciously. Heero, feeling his partners shudder and observing the look the commander gave Nasha, trained his gun at the man's heart.  
  
"To join you would be to forfeit all of what we believe in so I sadly reject your invitation" Heero coldly replayed with a sarcasm that was new to his person.  
  
"Well, your pretty rookie partner hasn't answered maybe she does want to join our organization?" The leader smiled sardonically at Nasha with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"I would rather die before I joined you! Besides your awesome organization as you call it is being defeated right now. Look out of your window and see your organization crumble. And you are next." She knew she was acting haughty but there was no way on Earth that she would let him know how much he unnerved her. Nasha didn't know it but there was fire in her eyes when she said this causing a few of the soldiers to cower at the sight of her.  
  
"Even if you destroy this base there are many others. The organization is still strong and you and your little Preventers can not bring it down." One of the officers snapped at the young soldiers. A bullet pierced his head before he could say anymore.  
  
"Now, now," The commander holding a smoking gun said with the same warmth one would expect from a grandparent, "we can't have you blabbering about the organization to the enemy. It's so hard to get competent soldiers now days."  
  
What ever fear Nasha had for the man quickly changed to rage. Who would kill one of their own soldiers just because he was defending their own cause? But now that her fear left and allowed her to observe the scene she understood what was really within the man, it was the same thing that once had resided in her own heart.  
  
"Your men fear you and they flee from you as soon as the enemy arrives. Yet you doubt your defeat." Nasha's eyes held pity and sadness as she maintained her aim on the man's head. From the corner of her eyes she could see Heero, his gun trained at the same target as hers.  
  
"If you think you have defeated me then you are wrong. You young, stupid girl! The cause will go on. My soldiers will carry on with our mission even if you kill me, which I most point out that you will not." The man was far too arrogant for Nasha's taste but she could see deeper than his words and into his very soul. He was terrified and lost.  
  
"You stupid little girl, what do you know about leading men? If they fear you they will follow your orders." He pointed out to the window where his soldiers were fighting against her teammates. "They will do whatever I tell them to do. If you think that you can bring me down with that little gun of yours then try it. See what happens."  
  
"A person said to me once 'if your men fear you they will follow their orders but if they respect you then they will die for you'. You really think that they are trying to defend you down there? They are just trying to save their lives. If they were trying to save you they would be here now stopping us from killing you." The eloquence in her words surprised Heero but her words left him astounded. He had said that to Relena during their conversation.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
"Heero, I don't understand how so many people where willing to die for me, for a single person, during the Mariemea coup d'état. It is beyond my understanding." Relena shrugged and let out a little sight as she glanced at Heero then back to the window.  
  
"When your men fear you they will follow your orders but if they respect you they will give their life for yours. Whether you like it or not the whole world is under your command your men are every single child, women and men and they respect and love you enough to give up their lives for you. You are their Angel of Peace."  
  
*End of Flashback*  
  
The commander stared at Nasha. He saw the understanding and the pity that her eyes held for him and he hated her more for it. In a flash the gun in his hand took quick aim and fired. He knew it would be his last act just as he knew that Heero Yuy, the infamous pilot, would show no mercy to an enemy. Indeed he was right for not a second later after his gun fired a bullet hit him square in the middle of his eyes. But his body was not the only one to fall.  
  
* * *  
  
A.N. Sorry for the cliff but like I said before I have a writer's block and too much work at school. It's a short chapter but something is better than nothing, right? Thanks to all those people who have reviewed, you don't know how much motivation I get from your reviews. Please review? Thanks 


	10. The Blood

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Gundam Wing or the characters. I do own Liana and  
other future original characters but that's it, I don't own anything else  
much to my own dismay *sobs*  
A.N. I am evil, truly and really evil. I almost made Heero be the one shot  
but then someone gave me a better idea. Don't kill me for taking long,  
please read the other note at the end of the chapter which contains my  
pitiful explanation. Please review!  
The Perfect Life  
By Stardust  
Chapter 10  
Run! Quicker, you idiot! The long muscled legs extended a bit farther  
eating up the ground underneath, but not achieving their full potential.  
After all caring a death weight usually slowed people down. Well, not  
exactly death, yet, and with any luck she wouldn't become one either. Her  
injury wasn't too bad but what had Heero worried was that the shot had gone  
through her shoulder. And while it wasn't as painful as if the bullet had  
been lodged in her shoulder it did cause the injury to bleed much more  
heavily. But at the moment the only thought in Heero's mind was to get out  
of the building because, as his friendly watch reminded him, he had exactly  
two minutes to get out of the blast zone. Now, it had been only him he  
wouldn't have worried so much but since an injured, unconscious Natasha was  
with him he decided this was a good time to worry. Move! He shouted to his  
body once again.  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
The rest of the team, missions all completed, stood nervously keeping a  
watch for their missing team members. Hilde paced around their camp with  
Duo a step behind trying to comfort her. Quatre sat holding an untouched  
and now cold tea of cup next to Dorothy both staring fixedly in the  
direction of the enemy base. Trowa lent against a tree with Catherine  
sitting at his feet, they were having a quiet conversation but every once  
in a while both would discretely glance in the direction of the base and  
then continue with their conversation. Zechs was trying to repair some  
damage to his gundam and he would have been more successful if he didn't  
stop every few seconds to look for his missing comrades. Noin's mother hen  
side appeared and decided that since she couldn't help Heero and Relena she  
should coddle and make sure everyone else was ok so every few minutes she  
would go around and ask if everyone was alright. That is until Zechs asked  
her to sit down and leave everyone in peace. Wufei sat calmly in his  
meditating position but the occasional shifting of his body was the tell  
tail sign of his worry. Sally sat next to Wufei nervously taping her  
fingers against her legs but every once in a while Wufei would bark for her  
to stop and the taping would stop for a couple of minutes and then restart,  
slowly gaining tempo. Ring! Ring! Eight alarms rang at the same time  
signaling that there was a minute left to the explosion.  
Silence rose in the camp, not a sound could be heard, and the atmosphere  
grew even heavier. They all exchanged a startled gaze and slowly turned  
their eyes in the direction of the base. 30 seconds. 20 seconds. 15  
seconds. Time slowed and seconds turned into hours. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4.  
3. 2. 1. BOOM! A quick series of explosions sounded almost as one and in  
less than five seconds a thick cloud of dust and debris rose as the  
building collapsed. Once again they turned to look at each other as if  
wanting to affirm that what they had seen was true. Slowly, for everything  
seemed slow now, they stood up and made their way towards the end of their  
little camp. The girls stood there searching for a sign that their worst  
fear hadn't come to pass while the boys stood tense and ready for anything.  
Nearly a minute had passed since the explosion when Trowa thought he saw a  
shadow flicker but dismissed it as a trick of the light when he saw it a  
second time he was sure there was something walking slowly and cautiously  
among the shadows. "I think."  
"You think what, Trowa?" Catherine's voice was unusually impatient. "You  
think they are death. You think they didn't make it out. You think-"  
"He thinks that Heero is walking this way with a person in his arms."  
Catherine was interrupted by an equally and unusually impatient Quatre, who  
had followed Trowa's eyes to the figure that was barely visible. Everybody  
turned to look and indeed saw Heero walking with someone in their arms.  
When the realization of their discovery sank in they quickly made their  
way, in other words they ran, to Heero.  
"Nasha! What happened, Heero? Who shot her? How much blood has she lost?"  
Sally's medical training kicked right in to gear as she quickly looked  
underneath the makeshift bandaged around Nasha's shoulder.  
" Is she alright?" A near hysterical Hilde asked.  
"Of course she is not, women, she was shot." Wufei's sarcastic comment was  
only answered with a hit to the back of his head  
"We need to get her out of here and into a hospital soon she is bleeding  
too much." Sally was still trying to find why Nasha was losing so much  
blood. It was true that her type of injury usually bled a lot but the  
amount of blood Nasha was loosing wasn't normal.  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
A couple of hours later in the Preventers base  
  
The small white sterile waiting room at the medic wing of the  
Preventers base had become, over the course of the last few hours, a place  
to be avoided by all means necessary. The only brave ones, more like forced  
ones, were a nurse and a doctor that took turns in briefing the inhabitants  
of the room the condition of their patient. By the time that they had  
gotten Nashada to the base she had turned deathly white and cold, both  
being quite bad signs. After an hour the doctors had been able to stabilize  
her but a problem had emerged. Nasha had lost a good deal of blood and  
unfortunately her blood type was quite rare. And while the blood bank at  
the medic wing was well stashed the supply of her blood type was rare to  
find and they didn't have enough to replace all of the blood she had lost.  
So the gang volunteered to donate blood if their blood matched hers. But as  
it turned out the doctors in the medic wing had been instructed to test  
anyone's blood before using it on a patient and as much as the gang tried  
to argue that Nasha needed the blood immediately the doctors would not  
break protocol.  
So now the nine soldiers sat and waited for the results. The  
occasional grumble about idiotic doctors and archaic protocol was uttered  
by an outraged Sally. And when the door was open all nine sprang up from  
their seats ready to pounce at anyone that could have information about  
Nasha. The nurse was apprehensive about the wired group of people and  
understood why the doctor had sent her to deliver the news. Just as she had  
gathered her nerves about her and was ready to speak, a rude voice  
interrupted her.  
"Well, what are the results? Does anyone match her blood?" An  
inpatient Hilde asked while she shifted her body from one foot to the  
other.  
"Err, Milliardo Peacecraft is the only one with matching blood, if he  
will please come with me." The nurse shifted slightly when the tall blond  
stepped next to her. They disappeared thru the doors. The room once again  
fell into controlled stupor.  
~ o ~ o ~ o  
Black, warm, floating. Her mind couldn't form any coherent thoughts  
with the heavy blanket that surrounded her. She could hear a distant sound,  
drum like, it held a steady beat never hesitating. With a little effort she  
realized that it was her own heart. Yet she had never noticed the nice  
soothing, musical rhythm it made. Boom, boo, bum, boom, boo, bum. Awareness  
of a slight sensation awakened her from her musings. To her drugged senses  
it seemed a light cares but in reality her hand was being held tightly.  
Next, came the slight whisper of an unintelligible sound. It was calling to  
her, though she couldn't understand the words, telling her to wake, to be  
rid of that heavy blanket. And yet she clung to it unwilling to let go of  
the comfortable abyss she floated on. Even as she clung, the darkness  
started to fade. The bottomless pitch black gave way to a harsh white  
light. 'No, let me be. Let me be at peace. Go away.' But her mind wouldn't  
obey her commands and so she was suddenly bathed by a blinding white light.  
Her eyelids started to flutter in reaction to the light but it only made it  
worst as her eyes were farther assaulted by the blinding light. The voice  
that had guided her out of the pit now fell silent and all other sounds  
stopped. Without something to guide her into the light, she started to fall  
once again only to have the voice start once again. This time when her eyes  
opened she saw beyond the light but distinguished only blurs. Before she  
had time to react she felt herself being tightly embraced by someone, pain  
exploded throughout her body and a weak whimper formed in her throat.  
Gently she was laid back down and now she could see who had held her.  
  
A.N. I know I am horrible but I couldn't help myself, cliffhanger! Any ways  
I am sorry that it took so long but I am going through a really bad  
writer's block and I am also working on another story with a friend so it  
is taking a lot of my time. Between that and school I don't even have time  
to sleep so please don't kill me. Also, I want to thank all of the people  
that have reviewed my story, this story is for all of you. 


	11. The Lost Friends

DISCLAIMERS: You know the drill, so should I still say it?

**The Perfect Life**

**By Stardust**

Chapter 11

"I want out. I refuse to stay in this bed any longer." Nasha ranted. She had been stuck in that small white room for one too many days for her liking. "It was a single bullet, not that much harm done."

"You, young lady, will stay in that bed until the doctor says otherwise." Ataka ordered her gently. "And if you try to snick out like yesterday I will make sure that your stay in this lovely, small, white room is prolonged."

"Not fair," Nasha pouted slightly and crossed her arms, "you only say that because you can move with out everybody blowing the roof off if you even think about moving."

"Mommy is being bad." Nick stated from the door, his arms full of junk food.

"Nick is right, mommy is being very bad," Hilde laughed at Nasha's face, happy that her friend was feeling better. The image of Nashada, lying pale and unmoving in the small hospital bed would forever stay in her mind. For a second after entering the room the German girl had thought that her friend was dead but the steady, if disconcerting, sound of the machines attached to her friend's body comforted her troubled mind.

"Mommy apparently isn't the only one that has been bad, what do you plan to do with all of that junk food, young man? Which responsible," Here she placed special emphasis, "adult allowed you to buy it?" Nasha looked from Nicky to Hilde with an arched eyebrow.

"Oh, come on, Nasha, the hospital food looked horrible, not even Duo would eat it. This was the only other alternative." Hilde sat on a chair close to Nasha's bed at the same time she relieved Nicky of a bag of potato chips.

"Now, Miss Hilde, the food here isn't that bad." A man with salt and pepper hair stated from the doorframe. In his hands was a chart that held all of Nashada's information. "Or else Miss Nashada wouldn't have made such a good recovery."

"I don't define a good recovery as being stuck in here for four days, not that I don't like the company, but I am ..." Nasha had always had a gift for words, weather writing them or reading them, as had been expected of Relena Peacecraft but now she found that the only term that could express her frustration wasn't something witty or stylish but a teenage expression, "going nuts here."

"Well, then my news will be fully welcomed by this impatient patient." The doctor chuckled at his rhyme. It reminded Nasha of Santa Claus. "You will be released tomorrow but, and I want to make it clear, no strenuous activities for at least another week. Try to keep any pressure or weight away from the injured shoulder. I will give Mr. Ko your medication along with the responsibility of seeing that his granddaughter takes it regularly. If anything abnormal happens don't," At this he cast a look at Hilde and Ataka, "I really mean, don't hesitate to bring her back in." They both nodded so the doctor was on his way again.

"Wonder what is happening with the world?" Hilde got up from her chair to turn on the small TV that sat at the corner of the room. "We have all been so caught up with you that we kind of forgot about the rest of the world."

At this Nasha pouted again. When she was about to speak her words died on her throat while her mouth froze half opened.

"... true, the government can not be the same without Miss Darlan. Even after almost two years from her disappearance the people feel that they cannot trust the government. In turn, the government is splitting up even more without the Vice Foreign Minister there to regulate and bring everyone together. Her disappearance might very well mark the beginning of the end of our current peace. But on to our other stories..."

Hilde quickly changed the channel but all color had drained from her face. She missed Relena terribly and wouldn't, couldn't, believe that she was dead. But ever since she had meet Nashada she had been able to push Relena's absence to the back of her mind. Now the news broadcast had brought forth the memories of her lost friend. It made her feel not only saddened by Relena's absence but guilty as well, since she had tried to forget about her. Relena had been the closest thing that to a sister she had ever had.

o o o o o o o

Two days later...

"Where is Nasha? We need to get going." Cathy asked the others as they were making their way out of the temple.

"I think she wanted to say bye to Nick before leaving." Hilde told them while she put one of her bags on her shoulders.

"NNNOOOO!!!" They all heard the shout that came from the back of the temple but assumed that it was simply Nick who refused to be parted from his 'mother'. Then a shot was heard. They turned to look at each other before sprinting to the source of the sound. What they found didn't lift their spirits but burdened them even farther. There in the bloody ground was Atakayama Ko whose side was bleeding heavily. Nick cradled the priest's head and hugged the old man's shoulders desperately.

A couple of feet away from the pair stood Nasha, unarmed, fighting a group of men who wore the dark uniform of the organization whose base they had destroyed less than a week ago. All of this assessment took only moments. In seconds, they were at Nashada's side helping her fight off the soldiers. But they had underestimated the single mindedness of these soldiers. They all were prepared to die as long as they could destroy the Gundam pilots as well as avenge their fallen comrades.

Hilde stood on Nasha's left fighting off soldiers while at the same time trying to keep an eye on her injured friend. Her watching cost her a gash on her right arm a few minutes into the fight, which hampered her movements for the rest of the struggle. Heero gave up trying to defeat their enemy in hand-to-hand combat. He pulled out a gun from the waistline of his jeans and started shooting the soldiers. After that the fight ended quickly with the enemy soldiers retreating. The P.E.T. would have given chase if it weren't for the old injured priest that laid in the ground.

As soon as Nasha knocked out her last attacker she went to the old man, leaving the rest of the team to deal with the small remaining group of the enemy.

"Nicky, you have to let grandpa go so that mommy can help him." She held onto him after she pulled him away from her mentor. She set him in the ground, glad that he was alive and well. Then she turned to Ataka to examine his wound.

It wasn't a deadly injury but she was still worried about the blood coming out of the wound. 'Too much blood' She thought while she watched a small river of blood make its way down the old man's chest. A moment later she snapped into action. Remembering basic training at the Preventers she tore a piece of her shirt before putting it on top of the wound and applying pressure.

Before long, Sally arrived at her side, taking over for Nasha. Nasha knew that she couldn't help Sally anymore than she could help build a bomb but she felt so useless just standing there doing nothing. She jumped slightly when a hand lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"It's ok, Nasha. He will be fine. Sally is a great doctor and the ambulance is coming. Don't worry, everything is ok." Hilde told her soothingly before pulling her into a hug.

"I know but I can't help it... He did it to protect me. I hadn't seen them. I was too busy saying good-bye to Nicky. All of the sudden he just... he pushed me away. Next thing I know he is bleeding and the soldiers were rushing to wards us and all I could think about was protecting Nicky." Nasha was near tears and hated herself for it. She needed to be strong for Ataka, for Nicky... oh, God! "Nicky, where is he? Where is he? I can't believe I forgot about him...!"

"Hey, sweetie, calm down, he is with the guys." Cathy pointed to where Duo and Quatre were talking with Nicky while Heero, Trowa, and Wufei stood as kind of guards incase a second attack came.

"Sorry it's just that... this is too much." A small sigh escaped Nasha. Her shoulder was reminding her that her injury had yet to heal completely and that it had disliked the resent stress it had just been put thru. She turned towards Hilde intent on telling her to help get everyone organized so that they could follow the ambulance to the hospital when she noticed blood staining Hilde's sleeve. "Hilde, what happened?!"

"What?" Hilde looked at her injured arm and shrugged. "It was just a scratch. I got kind of distracted..." Hilde looked everywhere but at Nasha who was practically glaring at her. "Okay, okay, I was worried that with your hurt shoulder you might need help and was keeping an eye on you when I got this."

"Silly Hilde, my shoulder is sore but it doesn't hurt anymore." Nasha frowned at her friend's cut. Without asking for permission she raised the torn sleeve to see the wound. "You call this a scratch?" She shaked her head at her friend and looked at the somewhat deep laceration. Bending her head Nasha ripped a strip of fabric from her shirt. "Here this will help stop the bleeding until we can get to the hospital." Nasha gave Hilde a smile and turned to see that the paramedics had arrived, treated Ataka, and by now had him in a stretcher. Sally walked towards them whipping blood of her hands.

"He will be fine. He lost a lot of blood but the bullet didn't pierce any vital organs so he will be fine." Sally put an arm around Nasha and guided her towards the front of the temple. Everyone followed them slowly, still unsure if the last fifteen minutes had really happened, it certainly didn't feel like it had.

o o o o o o o

As they sat quietly in the waiting room, Heero thought. He thought about the attack and what it would mean for the Preventers. He thought about the old man that had been so kind to all of them and wondered if Ataka would be all right. But mainly, he thought about Relena. He had no idea why but something had made him remember her.

Strangely he had recalled a single memory, the day in the harbor when Duo had shot him. He could remember so clearly thinking that he would be unable to complete his mission. He felt the second shot imbed it self in his body and prepared himself for the following one... Only it never came. There standing in front of him, blocking him from farther harm was his biggest obstacle since his mission started. Her hair was blowing like a banner caught in the wind. She stood there unafraid chastising Duo for hurting him. For a second he knew his eyes showed his confusion, he had threatened to end her life but she was saving his, what kind of person would do that? But as soon as he saw her turn towards him his eyes were once again blank. She knelt down besides him and checked his injuries. When she ripped a piece of her dress to bandage his wounds, his eyes widened ever so slightly. Dr. J had never taught him how to react to this kind of situation, so he fell back to his fail-safe method, stoicism.

Thinking back now, he realized that in that moment he had started to understand that she was different from everyone else. But for some other reason the memory kept jumping at him. His subconscious was telling him something only he couldn't understand what it was trying to say. He was starting to get frustrated. He looked around the room at the people in his team. But more to the point, his friends, not that he would tell any of them that he actually considered them as such. Everyone was either staring into space or whispering with another. Alarms exploded in his head when he saw Duo sitting still with his mouth closed. That was not possible, Duo was never quiet AND still, something was wrong. Heero frowned. He did not like what he was seeing. Hilde sat on Duo's right side and was reading a magazine but one of her hands was held by Duo. That too was odd, Hilde was not one to sit quietly, and especially when she had the chance to talk to, not listen to, Duo. To Duo's left Nashada sat staring at some point in the wall in front of her. One of her anxious hands kept playing with the torn edge of her shirt...

Suddenly old and recent memorize mixed so that the two images overlapped. Relena ripping a strip of her dress and Nasha ripping a strip of her shirt. The body movements, the order of action, the way the strip was ripped... Too much, too alike, his mind kept repeating like a mantra. His heart started beating faster as the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. Dr. J's voice echoed in his head saying 'Coincidences in large quantities are not coincidences but facts'. Now that he thought about it, he had been so set that Relena was out there somewhere that he had never considered the fact that she could be right under his nose. But now everything added up. Her reaction to his Gundam's name, her little speech in the enemy base, her blood being the same as Zechs', and now her actions while tending to Hilde. It was too much, too many coincidences, for it to not be true. He felt his face go pale with the implications of his thoughts. And his mind refused to completely process the thought. He looked at Nasha and saw what he had never paid attention to before. The shape of her face, her barely-showing cheekbones, the fine aristocratic nose, the shape of her lips and eyes and her height, they were all the same. After two years of looking for her he had finally found her, she was sitting in front of him and had been for the better part of two months now...

o o o o o o o

Don't cry, the chapter has ended, but I have good news... Chapter 12 is already up. I figured that since I hadn't written in so long I would treat all of my readers to a double chapter. Please, review.


	12. The Truth & Starting Again

**VERY IMPORTAN: If you had read Ch 11 previous to today, 10/12/04, read it again because I have added some new scenes into it. If you don't read it, you won't understand this one.**

A.N. I am alive! I know by now most of you must have thought I had died. Well I haven't. I am sorry for the long wait but things got hectic with graduation and starting college and all that other stuff. Not to mention that I had a writers block. But they are all excuses in the end. Sorry.

**The Perfect Life**

**By Stardust **

Chapter 12

The soft light of the dawn surrounded her as she completed the final move of her kata. She staid still for a moment before straightening up and walking to where her water bottle was. She stretched as she let her mind wonder over the last few days. Ataka was on the mend, back at home and resting. They were returning to HQ in two days and the small vacation had been excellent for all the team. Except for Noin who seemed to be coming down with some kind of flu, which Sally was happily treating. Nasha had to smile. One thing above all else was true. Life was never dull when the team was together. If it wasn't Wufei chasing Duo, it was Sally arguing with Wufei, or Hilde bickering with Duo, or Nicky causing problems, or Duo causing problems. Which was why she had woken so early, this was the only time of day when there was some semblance of peace and quiet in the temple.

But she knew that soon the other would start to move about. Which meant that she had to cook breakfast. Which meant that she had to move, something she really did not want to do. She let out a suffering sigh before standing up. Duty calls, she thought dryly and shrugged it away. She was getting hungry anyway.

As she turned around the corner that would bring her inside the temple she ran into a hard surface. She stumbled a couple of steps back and looked up to see what she had run into. The what turned out to be a who, Heero. And judging by his expression something was wrong.

"Is something wrong, Heero?" Her only response was a low growl. Like a small animal faced with its predator, she backed away sensing danger. "Are... you alright?"

Volcanoes are deceptive by nature, with their long periods of inactivity, they fool everyone into thinking they are cold and harmless, but slowly pressure starts to build and sooner or later the explosion comes. It comes swiftly and without warning. It wreaks chaos and destruction. In the moment Heero started to speak, in the back of her head Nasha could see the long asleep volcano had awoken to life. Twin waves of excitement and dread ran through her. Excitement, to see Heero finally lose control. Dread, to be the target of such anger.

"Damn you, Relena! How could you just leave us? So that you could have your fun? So that you could deceive us?"

"I don't know what you mean, Heero!"

"Don't play with me! I know who you are! No one else knew those things! First, your reaction to Thisbe and then what I told you about the Mariemea coup d'état. You are not Nashada Wong you are Vice Foreign Minister Relena Peacecraft?"

"NO! I was RELENA PEACECRAFT. I was born a **_human_** not a **_symbol_** or a **_title_**!" Tears were coming to her eyes but she blinked them back. She had cried too much already. "You don't know what it was like! How trapped I felt! Or how lonely and miserable it was!"

"Really? I wouldn't know how miserable and lonely you felt since I have always been alone and have been trained as a soldier devoid of all emotions for as long as I can remember! Wake up, PRINCESS, you are not the only one that suffers! Everyone has problems in their lives. If only you had taken a look around, you would have seen that they were all there for you but you were too blind with your self-pity and selfishness to see them! You are the one that will never understand how much you hurt them when you left! They all worried if you were alright, and even after all this time they still do."

"They didn't worry so much when I was there. They didn't care enough to see that I was slowly dieing inside. Everyday I could feel myself slipping away while people barraged me with the world's problems. For once I wanted to be a regular person! To not have to decide what the best solution for humankind was. To not have to worry about some dignitaries' petty squabbles over equally petty things. To not have to look over my shoulder every second of the day for the fear of an assassin jumping from the shadows." Here she paused briefly to breath before starting again. "To not have the weight of the world and peace resting in my hands. To not have to live up to the tittles that the people gave me. To just be me, Relena. Is it so hard to understand that I just wanted to be a person not a figurehead or a title? I just wanted some one to really care and really see ME. But no one saw and after a while I was dead inside. I realized it had gone too far and I needed to go away. To leave it all behind."

"You were scared!" Heero answered accusingly "You ran away because you were scared that you would never be good enough and guess what, you weren't!"

His words stabbed a dagger through her heart and the pain that she had buried came forth ten fold. She darted away into the street as fast as her feet would carry her. She never turned back. She never saw Heero's face of pain. He hadn't meant to say that but all the pain that her leaving had caused him had made his tongue slick and sharp. Guilt swamped him and he tried to follow her but she had a head start and he couldn't find her, so he let his feet stray. A grim smile flittered in his face before being replaced by his normal stony face. She was the only one who could make him do this.

o o o o o o o

A week later...

The PET team sat around the table in grim silence. A day after Nasha's disappearance she had been reported as AWOL while the team had tried to find her. But she had disappeared without leaving a trace. And to all involved in the search what little clues Nasha had left behind were suspiciously similar to another search that had been done almost two years ago and that to this day still remained open. During these last few days Heero had wondered, and not for the first time, how Relena knew how to disappear so entirely that not even the mighty Gundam pilots could find her? It was mind-boggling. Of course the others didn't know that Relena and Nashada were the same person. He had meant to tell them since the beginning but he had wanted to have solid proof to show them. So he had hacked into a few confidential places, like the bank where Nasha's accounts were and other such places that might have had meaningful information. As it turned out Heero had been able to track Nashada's records about three years back. But interestingly all of her bank accounts had been unused until the date that Relena left. This made him wonder if Relena had really been unhappy for so long and if so why hadn't any of them noticed? Maybe to a small, very small, degree she had been right. Damn!

Now the responsibility of letting the others know was on his shoulders, which was why he had asked Une to call a meeting. If he was going to have to explain the whole mess he might as well tell everyone that needed to know at the same time, no use in repeating himself. But still this was not going to be pretty. He knew that it would come as a shock to everyone and some of them might even try to deny the truth. It had taken time and cold hard truths to make HIM accept it. After all, Relena was the one that preached about peace and laying down all weapons and Nasha was a capable warrior with training who had actually fought and killed enemy soldiers, but people none the less. Heero cringed, he still had some difficulty accepting that the two seemingly opposite people where one and the same. As Une came into the room his thoughts were interrupted and he prepared himself. Weather he believe it or not it was the truth and the others needed to know...

o o o o o o o

Two months later...

The death of Nashada Wong had brought about the resurrection of Relena Darlan. And even two months of preparation didn't help make Nasha, no, Relena, any less nervous. After her encounter with Heero she realized that while his words had hurt her they held some truth, she couldn't just run from her problems so she had set her shoulders straight and lifted her chin up and prepared to make her come back. She expected and to a point knew that it would take a while to get things back to normal but she was willing to try.

So during those two months she had let her true hair color come back and had gotten rid of the contact lenses that had turned her ocean blue eyes into honey. She had also taken a couple of classes at a small public college under the alias of Helena Watts. Most of the classes she had taken had been related to speech making and history. She had made sure that her schedule was filled so that she couldn't back out from the thing that terrified her the most, coming back.

Now here she was in the front steps of the Preventers HQ where she knew that Une and the P.E.T were situated. She wondered for a moment if they had already found a replacement for her, no, for Nashada. Well, that didn't matter now. She started going up the steps, the long skirt that she wore flapped lightly against her legs as the wind played with it, the thick sweater she wore protected her against it's chilly winter bite, and the warm winter hat she flopped on her head covered her hair which was held in a loose ponytail at the base of her head. She had carefully chosen her outfit so that she wouldn't call unnecessary attention and also with the purpose of only revealing her identity once she was in the privacy of Une's office. This was going to be a very long day...

Hours later, after being passed from office to office, it seemed to Relena like she had been in every waiting room in the da...rn building. How she wished that she could just tell them straight out who she was and why it was important that she talk with Une. A sigh escaped her at the thought. As gratifying as it might be to see them scurrying around she couldn't risk the media getting knowledge of her return before everything was set. Oh the headlines it would make. At least that thought made her smile, oh, yeah the beauty of public life! Just as the thought ran thru her head the phone at the secretary's desk rang.

The young woman cleared her throat before answering: "Yes, ma'am... Alright, in a second, ma'am."

The secretary turned and with the tone of a superior speaking to someone far more inferior spoke to her. "She will see you now. You should be grateful. Miss Une is a very busy woman. Be sure not to waste her time with your ideas."

So Relena, grumbling about pedantic secretaries, went into the office. It wasn't very big but it had a beautiful view of the city. There were no luxuries or personal touches except for two framed pictures in her desk. Trust Une to be the ever-efficient leader she was. At the moment she was looking over the city as if she didn't know that someone else was in the room.

"You must have something very important to say to me if you stuck around this long. So get to the point if you please." Her back was stiff. Anyone who didn't know her would think that she was annoyed but those who did would see that she was tired. Relena felt a stir of pity, she knew the feeling. Une should have gone home about an hour ago and after a full day of work the last place she would want to be was her office. Well, too bad this thing needed to be done now.

"You were always one to skip formalities. But then again from time to time they are very useful." Relena knew she had her attention when Une turned around and looked at her trying to see whom she was. "I believe in this case it would go something like: Nice to meet you Miss Une, I promise I won't take a lot of your time. But let me introduce myself, I am Relena Darlan." Relena took her hat off as she stuck her hand out to Une for a handshake. But Une simply fell into her chair looking as if she had seen a ghost.

"You're back" It was more a statement than a question but Relena nodded anyways. "We knew you were coming back we just didn't think it would be this soon. Heero said..." Une trailed off while she tried to think coherently.

So Heero had told them... Good this would save her some trouble. At least for now she could relax. Une came out of her thoughts and looked Relena over before starting to talk. Relena had grown, Une realized, her body was better formed, her face looked leaner than before, but the change inside was what astonished Une. When she had left she had been stuck between being a teenager and an adult. The Relena that stood in front of her now was simply a woman.

"Good to have you back. Now we need to get started with your comeback preparations..." Une kept on talking but all that Relena could think was that it was indeed going to be a very long day... Correct that, it was going to be a very long month...

o o o o o o o

After talking with Une until very late at night, she had been invited to stay at her house. Now if Une's office had been strictly military/Spartan then Une's house was the very expression of her suppressed femininity. All of the lace and the frills and the pastel colors had overwhelmed Relena the moment she had stepped inside. And people criticized her for having a pink limo when she had been a teen! Maybe they should have seen Une's house before criticizing her. But pink frills aside, Relena slept soundly in her bed only to be awakened into a nightmare.

A maid, with a face that was not easy to forget, woke her from a rather pleasant sleep to tell her that her company was expected in the dinning room in an hour. Relena, ever the well trained dutiful lady, stood from bed and made her way to the bathroom when the maid left her room. Only to trip with a chair in the way to the door. Muttering rather colorful curses she turned the shower on and hopped into the spray of water. To realize that the water might as well have been ice cubes since she hadn't turned on the hot water tap.

In her half asleep state, she dropped the soap while she had been scrubbing her body and she bent down to retrieve it. But soap and wet bathtubs make a rather slippery combination as Relena soon found out. Ten minutes later and out of the bath room with more than a couple new bruises and a bump in her head, Relena carefully but quickly got dressed. It was going to be a wonderful day!! Yeah, right, at least things couldn't get any worse...

How wrong she was! The morning was about to get a heck of a lot worse, for as she opened the door to the dinning room she was faced with her biggest nightmare...

o o o o o o o

Cliffhanger... Sorry but I had to stop but I promise that the next chapter will be up soon. Thanks to all of my reviewers for making me get off my butt and making me write. Please review, even if I don't deserve it trying to guilty people into reviewing.


End file.
